The South Korean government is producing a separate video program aimed at preventing sexual harassment involving foreign students, either as offenders or victims. The preemptive step comes as the number of foreign students in the country has topped 300,000 this year, raising concerns that cases stemming from cultural differences could increase.
According to reporting by The Seoul Economic Daily on the 1st, the Ministry of Education plans to complete production of a sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention video for foreign students within this year. The video will be released early next year, when the new academic term begins, through online platforms including YouTube. It will be made in animated form so that the nationalities of the characters cannot be identified, and will come with subtitles in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Uzbek and Nepali, the languages most widely used by foreign students.
"As the number of foreign students grows rapidly, we understand that related cases of harm, including sexual harassment, are also increasing," a ministry official said. "Beyond how students should respond when they suffer such harm, the video will include content aimed at improving awareness of sexual harassment and related issues."
Human rights centers at individual universities also say steps such as stronger sexual harassment prevention training are needed given the rapid increase in foreign students. "Since the government began about five years ago counting completion of sexual violence prevention training — at least one hour once a year — toward certification of a university's international education capacity, sexual misconduct cases involving foreign students have declined," an official at a human rights center at one university said. "But with foreign students increasing so quickly, it appears necessary to strengthen prevention training on sexual harassment that can occur in everyday settings."
Concerns on campuses over sexual harassment linked to cultural differences are growing as the number of foreign students climbs at a steep pace. As of April this year, the number of foreign students enrolled at universities and graduate schools in South Korea stood at 307,464, up 54,030 from a year earlier.
The government had earlier projected that the 300,000 threshold would not be crossed until 2027, but the increase has far exceeded its expectations. Above all, because there is no cap on tuition increases for foreign students, many universities are recruiting them indiscriminately to shore up their finances — prompting calls to expand content that helps these students settle into Korean society.
